1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an umbrella, and more particularly to an outdoor umbrella with built-in electro-control panel which is capable of controlling at least one electrical appliance provided on the outdoor umbrella in an on-off manner.
2. Description of Related Arts
A conventional outdoor umbrella usually comprises a supporting frame, an awing frame movably supported on the supporting frame, and an awning fabric supported on the awning frame for proving shading in a shading area under the awing fabric. Conventionally, the outdoor umbrella is usually foldable so that when it is not in use, the outdoor umbrella can be folded into a compact size for convenient transport and storage.
People usually use the conventional outdoor umbrella for a wide variety of outdoor activities. For example, people may use the outdoor umbrella during camping for providing some sort of shielding from sunlight. Very often, when people are using the outdoor umbrella in outdoor environment, they need something more, apart from shading, to accomplish their intended activities. For instances, they require light during night time and they may need fans when the weather is too hot. As a result, they may bring their own light and fans to the intended activities and this may create great trouble to them.
Therefore, this is the main disadvantage to conventional outdoor umbrella in that a typical outdoor activity usually requires a wide range of electrical appliances, such as lighting devices, audio devices, or ventilating devices for providing extra support to the activities being held. Thus, users of the conventional outdoor umbrella usually need to bring their own electrical appliances and plan in advance as to how to securely locate those electrical appliances. For example, they have to plan in advance as to how to mount lighting devices onto the outdoor umbrella. They also have to consider how to get power to light up all the electrical appliances.
As a matter of fact, there exist some outdoor umbrellas which comprise some sorts of built-in electrical appliances such as lighting devices. However due to power availability, mounting limitation and ease of control, there are currently very few, if not no, comprehensive outdoor umbrella which is capable of providing electrical appliances other than lighting devices. In worse situations, one may need to prepare a lot of batteries for powering up all of the electrical appliances.
Another problem, however, may exist. Since the outdoors umbrellas have to support many electrical appliances with proper electrical connection, it becomes more difficult for the usual folding or unfolding mechanisms to operate. In short, the electrical appliances may actually affect the operation of the outdoor umbrellas so as to defeat the very purpose of having those outdoor umbrellas.
Furthermore, even if one incorporates a wide variety of electrical appliances onto the outdoor umbrella, and manages to acquire the necessary power, one may face control problem for these electrical appliances, in that different electrical appliances may require different control switches and electrical connections. As a result, the user of the present may feel that it is difficult and inconvenient to comprehensively control all the electrical appliances of the outdoor umbrella.